FiNETIK – Asia and Latin America – Market News Network

Asia and Latin America News Network focusing on Financial Markets, Energy, Environment, Commodity and Risk, Trading and Data Management

August 2, 2011 • 10:08 am 0

NYSE Euronext Accelerates Growth in Asia with Strategic Acquisition of Metabit, a Leading Provider of Market Access Products

– Strategically complements NYSE Technologies’ product portfolio and Asian offerings

– Addresses growing customer interest and expanding Asian financial marketplace

– In-line with NYSE Technologies’ strategy of building a global liquidity network

 New York and Tokyo – August 1, 2011 – NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Metabit, a leading Tokyo-based provider of high performance market access products throughout Japan and Asia. Metabit will operate as a product line within the NYSE Technologies portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in third quarter of 2011. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Skilled with in-depth experience and understanding of financial markets in Asia, Metabit specializes in streamlined, low-latency technology solutions that enable industry-leading access to financial markets across Asia. Metabit’s products connect buy-side order flow with sell-side exchange participants and are designed exclusively for low latency direct market access (DMA) and exchange connectivity to markets through-out Asia. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with offices in Australia and Hong Kong. Metabit has built a trading community of more than 140 trading firms in Asia.

“Metabit’s products are built in Asia for Asia, and this combination fits our strategy, our connectivity business and our customer interests,” said Stanley Young, CEO of NYSE Technologies. “Metabit has a highly experienced and respected management team, and we recognize and value the success Metabit has had in Asia, especially in Japan. We will continue the further development of this local focus while also maximizing the value of the NYSE Euronext brand and relationships.”

Mr. Young continued: “Furthermore, Japan and Asia are priorities for NYSE Euronext and we believe this is absolutely the right time to further invest in the region. We fully expect this transaction to accelerate our efforts as a leading technology provider across the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to welcoming Metabit and its customers to NYSE Euronext, and to delivering the benefits of Metabit to our customer community.”

Daniel Burgin, CEO of Metabit, said: “Our combination with NYSE Technologies will be highly beneficial to delivering innovative solutions to our customers and to accelerate achieving our long-term business goals. We remain committed to our local business focus and service quality in Japan and throughout Asia, whilst being strengthened by NYSE Technologies’ product suite that is highly synergetic to our local solutions. The people and products of our combined companies will provide significant expertise and scale to NYSE Technologies’ business in the region. Joining forces represents a truly exceptional opportunity to build on our local success in order to increase our value proposition to our Japan and Asia customer base. We now have the opportunity to leverage our assets with NYSE Technologies and move to the next level. For the benefit of Asia-based customers, we will now expand our reach and capabilities globally.”

 Metabit’s Asia franchise has seen excellent growth as a result of a persistent product and client strategy and investments into Asia. Today, Metabit covers all DMA sectors outside Japan, ranging from China (“B” shares), India, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Metabit’s products, being built in Asia for Asia, focus to connect the local broker community in each country, in combination with the traditional group of global trading firms. Metabit will continue to resell and provide support to users of CameronFIX as they have since 2002.

 Upon closing, Mr. Burgin will head the NYSE Technologies Asia business and report to Mr. Young. Peter Tierney, Managing Director of NYSE Technologies will become the Chief Operating Officer of the combined business in Asia, and together they will lead the business operations.

Source; NYSE Tech, 01.08.2011

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 30, 2011 • 9:45 pm 0

Metabit Expands Asian Trade Connectivity

Tokyo/Hong Kong, 29 March 2011: In the past year, Tokyo-based Metabit has concentrated on building its connectivity across Asia.  The company aims to be the local face of execution destinations in Asia and over the past eight months, it has added an extra 13 domestic DMA destinations, expanding domestic and cross-border access to Asian markets.

“Metabit is at the heart of  connectivity in Asia” comments Daniel Burgin, CEO of Metabit, “not just for providing access to Asia for global players, but also in particular for the local and domestic  industry in this region.”

“For example, in India we have 20 execution destinations of which 10 are domestic Indian brokers.  We are similarly successful with increased connectivity in other countries such as Korea and Taiwan.”

Overall, Metabit’s trading access has been extended to many markets ranging from Indonesia to Pakistan and Mainland China to Australia.  The company now has access to over 250 execution destinations, across all active DMA markets in Asia, including Japan.

“We want to maximise connectivity to and within Asia for our client base, who can directly access all execution destinations across the major and emerging markets in Asia either through Metabit’s intuitive XiliX trading platform, or through our MLH via a single FIX connection.”

Burgin adds a final comment, “Situated where we are in Tokyo, with offices in Hong Kong, Dalian and Sydney, we understand the needs of Asia market players, whether they want to trade globally or locally. You could say the mindset of Asia is in our blood – we think Asia, so our clients can trade Asia.”

About Metabit

Uniquely placed in Asia, with global experience and a real knowledge of Asian markets, Metabit provides the technology and support to help clients trade and connect effortlessly and efficiently.  The company delivers an intuitive trading platform that encompasses a well-established trading community and unrivalled exchange connectivity solutions.

Metabit provides ultra low latency DMA trading solutions for Asian markets, serving buy side and sell side clients.  It specialises in comprehensive compliance controls, whilst reducing transaction times and facilitating trading opportunities across all major markets across 14 Asian countries, including Japan.

Metabit’s flagship solutions are XiliX intuitive buy side trading platform and MLH a vendor neutral Market Liquidity Hub.  Alpha provides ultra-low latency exchange connectivity and Exsim simulates Asian and Japanese exchanges.  All Metabit’s products are powered by the CameronFIX engine.

Source: Metabit, 29.03.2011

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Thailand, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 12, 2011 • 1:58 am 0

ETF Landscape: Industry Highlights de February/Febrero 2011 – En/Sp – BlackRock

ETF – 02.2011 Report/Reporte

English

At the end of February 2011, the global ETF industry had 2,557 ETFs with 5,802 listings and assets of US$1,367.4 Bn, from 140 providers on 48 exchanges around the world. This compares to 2,091 ETFs with 3,998 listings and assets of US$1,001.9 Bn from 115 providers on 40  exchanges, at the end of February 2010.

We expect global AUM in ETFs and ETPs1to increase by 20–30% annually over the next three years, taking the global ETF/ETP industry to approximately US$2 trillion in AUM by early 2012. Considering ETFs separately, AUM should reach US$2 trillion globally by the end of 2012, US$1 trillion in the United States in 2011 and US$500 billion inEurope in 2013.

Taking ETFs and ETPs together, United States AUM should reach US$2 trillion in 2013, with European AUM reaching US$500 billion in 2012.

In Latin America, the ETF sector remains with 26 ETFs, 365 listings and assets of USD $10.2 billion of four providers on three Exchanges. Compares 20 ETS, 223 listings and assests of USD$ 9.3 billions and three providers  at three exchanges in february 2010.

Español:

El reporte ETF Landscape: Industry Highlights da a conocer la situación de los Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) y Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) en el mes de febrero.

Se espera que los activos globales bajo administración de los ETFs y ETPs se incrementen de 20 a 30% anualmente durante los próximos tres años, llegando a aproximadamente USD $2 billones (trillion dollars) a principios de 2012.  A escala global, el sector de ETFs tuvo 2,557 ETFs con 5,802 listados y activos por USD $1,367.4 millones, de 140 proveedores en 48 mercados bursátiles en el mundo a finales de febrero de 2011, comparado con 2,091 ETFs con 3,998 listados y activos por USD $1,001.9 millones de 115 proveedores en 40 mercados a fines del mismo periodo del año pasado.

En Latinoamérica el sector de ETFs permanece con 26 ETFs, 365 listados y activos por USD $10.2 mil millones, de cuatro proveedores en tres bolsas, comparado con 20 ETFs, 223 listados y activos por USD$9.3 mil millones de tres proveedores en tres mercados a fines de febrero de 2010.

Source:BlackRock, March 10, 2011

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, News, Services, Singapore, , , , , , , , , , ,

January 5, 2011 • 11:31 pm 0

2010 Top 10 Developments in Asia’s Electronic Trading Industry;Asia E-Trading

2010 was the year that Asia’s electronic trading industry focused on competition and services in what have traditionally been anti-competitive market places. We recorded over 1000 separate news items this year in Asia alone. We recognize that some of the developments that made our list will not be relevant to everyone but as a neutral third party observer we have come up with a list that we feel are the Top 10 Developments in Asia’s Electronic Trading Industry in 2010.

Original Article: Asia E-Trading 2010 Top Developments

10) The US CFTC now allows Malaysian futures brokers to deal directly with US customer. Perhaps individually not a Top 10 item as other brokers in Asia have been given the nod by the US regulator too. But when taken together with the recent Bursa Malaysia exchange technology upgrades in both the equity and futures segments, migration to the CME Globex platform and the record prices in the Crude Palm Oil contract Malaysia is now poised to take its place as a south-east Asian trading center. It will become a key anchor in the ASEAN link planned in the coming years.

9) China’s Index future launched April 16 after many years of delay was an important development not only for electronic trading but also for China’s budding algorithmic and hedge fund industry. The index has quickly become one of the largest index futures now traded in Asia. Though the back month doesn’t trade as much as it should it will only be a matter of time before that open interest picks up too. It shouldn’t be long before we see index options and an interest rate future for China as well.

8 ) Singapore Mercantile Exchange launched in late August this year. Asia is demanding more and more commodities as wealth and consumption grow around the zone. Generally, in Asia, commodity exchanges tend to offer just one product but the Singapore Merc is offering a basket of commodities to trade both physical and cash contracts. Trading is available in WTI crude, currency, gold and black pepper to name a few. Interestingly, though, is that the SMX is owned entirely by Financial Technologies Group (FTIL) an India based company that will see its exchange compete head on with SICOM, the SGXs commodities arm. Expect to hear more from the SMX this year.

7) The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) began clearing trades for Proprietary Trading Systems (PTS) in August substantially reducing the costs in the post trade for alternatives in Japan. While the playing field still isn’t level with the Primary exchanges, this development at the JSCC was a boost for Japanese PTSs. SBI Japannext, a consortium PTS, has regularly traded 1 percent of daily volume on its venue as a result of this change. We expect fragmentation to accelerate in 2011 in Japan which is already around 3 to 5%.

6) The launch of Chi-east. The joint venture between the Singapore Exchange and Chi-X called Chi-east made it to our list of top 10 developments in Asia electronic trading industry in 2010. The venture is a big step for Singapore in terms of spurring exchange competition and becoming a regional one-stop-shop for trading in Asia. Chi-East is a broker to broker alternative that will offer off-shore crossing using different clearing facilities around Asia.

5) China is now the largest agricultural commodity market in the world with the Dalian Commodity Exchange seeing record volumes in Corn and the Soybean complex. Coupled with the Shanghai Futures Exchange and its metal products the opportunities and future for the electronic trading industry vertical in China and the rest of the world are huge.

4) Exchange competition in Australia. On March 31 the Australian government announced its support for Exchange competition in Australia. While we are still waiting the promise of competition is compelling. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has long held a monopoly over the industry with poor service and high trading fees (explicit and implicit). The ASX passed its supervisory duties to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) August 1 and with the Market Integrity Rules being finalized it shouldn’t be long before trading in Australia is much cheaper and better served. The ASX SGX merger could put a spanner in the works, however.

3) Smart Order Routing in India – SEBI finally permitted Smart Order Routing in India in August of this year much to the National Stock Exchanges chagrin. The Bombay Stock Exchange promptly offered this service to its customers in a bid to take market share from its larger rival. India has the tightest spreads in Asia of around 6bps and with SORs on offer we can expect spreads to tighten even further and volumes to shoot up. This long overdue regulation puts India on the road to offering best execution far ahead of its BRIC peer China. Deutesche equities was the first FII to receive approval for using SORs to both the NSE and BSE.

2) SGX / ASX Merger – We have seen it in the US and Europe and it has finally come to Asia, exchange consolidation. While the news of this reverberated around the world like a tsunami the reality, in AsiaEtrading’s view, is that this is a merger of survival. Both exchanges are very small and in aggregate are still quite small but would command the largest futures market in Asia (not including China’s commodities of course). The announcement is further evidence that Asia is moving to a more competitive industry and should be a wake-up call to the rest of the region. Our webinar on the topic had the panelists agreeing that the merger won’t happen. We’ll wait and see if this merger does indeed take place.

1) We ranked the Tokyo Stock Exchange Arrowhead upgrade as the most important development in Asia’s Electronic Trading industry in 2010. This was a significant and crucial development for one of the top exchanges in the world. Previously, order round trips were around 4 seconds and orders per second were on par with a Starbucks barista. The improved matching engine performance has tightened spreads, increased trading volumes and reduced order sizes. This in turn has attracted more sophisticated traders, reduced implicit trading costs and has generally benefited the Japanese trading industry significantly. Not only that, having come out of 2009 and the aftermath of the GFC, the successful upgrade was the turning point for what was a very activity business in 2010. To us it was the catalyst for the entire industry in Asia.

Source: www.asiaetrading.com, 02.01.2011

Filed under: Australia, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 27, 2010 • 10:32 pm 3

Singapore-Australia exchange tie up threatens Tokyo; Controversy Grows

Japan’s top exchange will seek its own alliances if a planned multi-billion dollar merger of the Singapore and Sydney stock exchanges goes ahead, the bourse’s head said in a report Wednesday.

Atsushi Saito, chief executive of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, told the Financial Times that if SGX’s 8.2 billion dollar offer for ASX went ahead, it would be not be “a good story” for Tokyo.

“If Japan becomes isolated on the international stage — that is not good,” he said. “There are many options. There could be a combination of TSE and others on an international basis.”

Saito’s remarks illustrate how the proposed offer by Singapore’s SGX for ASX has ruffled the region.

“The consensus (among officials at Asian exchanges before the proposed deal was announced) was that such a thing would be impossible in Asia” due to the differences in culture and sense of values, Saito told the newspaper of the proposed deal.

Saito added that if the deal were to go ahead, it could result in a loss for the TSE, which is SGX’s second largest shareholder with 4.9 per cent, the Financial Times said.

“Our shareholdings will be diluted, with our stake falling to about 3.1 per cent. It’s possible we’ll have a loss of hundreds of millions of yen,” he said.

The proposed merger aims to create the world’s fifth biggest exchange with a market capitalisation of about 12.3 billion US dollars, although it first needs to pass regulators and a growing political backlash in Australia.

Analysts say sticking points may include the Singapore government’s large stake in the SGX, which could raise sovereign ownership concerns, and the board’s composition with 11 Singapore representatives and four from Australia.

Source: AFP, 27.10.2010

Controversy grows over SGX’s takeover bid for ASX

The Singapore Exchange’s S$10.7 billion takeover bid for Australia’s ASX Limited faces a difficult road ahead amid political backlash in Australia and shareholder reservations over the deal.

For the transaction to push through, the Australian parliament, currently controlled by a coalition led by the ruling Labour party, would need to lift the 15 percent ownership cap on the ASX bourse. The Australian Treasury could grant a waiver, but the Business Times reports that this could be stymied if any party demands a vote.

Bob Brown of the Greens Party, a key Labour ally, said he was not supportive of the deal given Singapore’s human rights record and the city-state’s execution of an Australian drug smuggler in 2005.

“This is a state that tramples all over freedom of speech, democracy, the rights of oppositions, the ability for public discourse,” he was quoted in a report by the Associated Press. A few other lawmakers also indicated they were inclined to oppose the takeover.

Aside from regulatory approvals, the merger of the two exchanges will also be subject to shareholders’ approvals. But, already, one SGX shareholder has expressed a negative view over the issue.

Under the deal, SGX will issue new shares and pay ASX shareholders a combination of A$22 or S$28.04 in cash and 3.472 new ordinary SGX shares for each existing ASX ordinary share or equivalent to A$48 per share.

Atsushi Saito, chief executive of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the transaction could result in a loss for the Japanese exchange, which is SGX’s second largest shareholder with a 4.9 percent stake. He told the UK paper that if the deal were to push through it would not be “a good story” for Tokyo.

Some analysts said the planned acquisition looked expensive. Gabriel Yap, executive chairman of investment firm GCP Global, said the price of A$48 per share “is too high” as it represents 25 times price-to-earnings ratio while the estimated cost synergies and savings at 20% is higher than that achieved in other mergers and takeovers of other exchanges before.

From the point of view of ASX shareholders, “Christmas has come early,” said Yap.

The SGX-ASX deal aims to create the fifth-largest exchange in the world with a market capitalisation of more than US$12.3 billion and to capitalise on opportunities for growth in Asia-Pacific.The press statement on the proposed merger enumerates other benefits.

Source: Fit To Post Singapore, 27.10.2010

Filed under: Australia, Exchanges, Japan, Singapore, , , , , , ,

October 23, 2010 • 12:39 am 0

SGX in ASX takeover talks – report

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is set to make a takeover offer for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), according to local press reports.

Trading in the shares of both bourses was suspended today as ASX issued a statement saying: “A party has recently re-activated confidential discussions with ASX concerning a possible business combination

It is in the process of hammering out the details of a possible deal with its larger Singapore contemporary, according to the Australian newspaper.

The speculation comes weeks after the ASX confirmed it was in talks with other operators about “possible business combinations” saying that none of the talks with the unnamed parties “have resulted in a proposal”.

The Australian government recently stripped ASX of responsibility for supervising real-time trading on markets, effectively ending its monopoly. It is set to face competition from electronic trading platform operator Chi-X from next year, with other players expected to follow.

Source: Finextra, 22.10.2010

Filed under: Australia, Exchanges, Singapore, , ,

October 4, 2010 • 10:24 pm 0

Metabit -Asia’s Trading Hub- Rebrand Marks 10th Anniversary

Metabit is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Tokyo on the 6th October 2010.  In acknowledgement of this milestone, the company which specialises in intuitive institutional trading platforms, exchange connectivity and a well established trading community, has commissioned a new corporate identity, website and advertising campaign.  These are to be launched at The FPL Japan Electronic Trading Summit 2010 on 6th October.

Daniel Bürgin, CEO of Metabit commented:

“We wanted to bring home to our clients and the market at large that our systems have been built out of Asia, for Asia.  It was important to demonstrate our intimate knowledge and understanding of Asian markets.“

“Metabit’s new brand image had to not only represent our commitment to Asia, but demonstrate our unique approach to client solutions and innate dynamism.  Our new positioning, Think Asia, Trade Asia, was developed to convey who we are and our area of speciality.”

A new advertising campaign will also be launched at the conference.  Metabit’s Metamorphosis Campaign, which features a butterfly with a map of Asia superimposed upon its wing, was chosen to symbolise the way in which the company operates. Bürgin continues:

“We wanted an original look that represents our approach. The metamorphosis theme was chosen to reflect the way we help clients transform and develop their business, enabling them to trade effortlessly and efficiently.”

Metabit has four offices in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Mainland China.  For more information about Metabit, visit www.meta-bit.com or see the company at Stand 9 at the FPL Summit in Tokyo.

For more information, contact Claus Kwon on +852 3752 0674 or Kenichi Morita on +81-3-3664-4160 or mail to sales@meta-bit.com .


 MetabitAd(LowRes).jpg

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, Japan, Market Data, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 19, 2010 • 2:47 am 0

MetaBit Trading Technology and Services opens Hong Kong Office

Tokyo/Hong Kong, 18 May 2010 – Specialist DMA and exchange connectivity solution provider MetaBit opens its Hong Kong office in May 2010 as part of its business expansion in Asia.
 
The new Hong Kong office represents a further strategic milestone for MetaBit to accelerate the expansion of its rapidly growing Asian client base and support its strategic objective to service Asia’s financial markets with localized and low latency trading solutions.  The Hong Kong office will promote and support institutional DMA, algo and manual trading across fourteen Asian markets.
 
MetaBit have also announced the appointment of Claus Kwon as managing director for the Asia Pacific ex-Japan business.
 
“I am very pleased to have Claus Kwon taking responsibility to further expand MetaBit’s business outside Japan” says Daniel Burgin, CEO at MetaBit.  “With Mr Kwon’s appointment, MetaBit continues to proactively build on its success and reputation earned through the quality of its technology and MetaBit’s continuous efforts in helping its clients achieve greater trading efficiency. Headquartered in Tokyo, our company is firmly rooted in Asia.  The addition of the Hong Kong office strengthens MetaBit’s ability to deliver the best solution with service catered for local needs.”
 
“I am excited to be joining MetaBit as their business expands in the region and as electronic trading continues to develop at an incredible rate in Asia,” says Mr Kwon. “MetaBit has a history of delivering innovative electronic trading solutions to both global and local clients in the Asia markets. Whilst MetaBit’s solutions are global by underlying technology, their unique infrastructure supports businesses that are serious about their Asia operations and want to stay competitive in this market.”
 
Today, MetaBit covers all of Asia’s DMA and Algo markets through its flagship trading platform XiliX, its vendor neutral FIX hub MLH (Market Liquidity Hub), and Alpha, its ultra-low latency exchange connectivity solution.
With the opening of a Hong Kong office, MetaBit – a pro-active promoter of the FIX Protocol – has formally joined the FPL.
 
About MetaBit –
 
MetaBit is a specialist low latency DMA trading solution provider in Asia reducing transaction processing times and  increasing trading opportunities by providing FIX enabled DMA and algorithmic trading access to market liquidity across fourteen Asia’s markets, including Japan.
 
MetaBit’s flagship products are the XiliX™ intuitive buy side DMA trading platform and MLH, a vendor neutral Market Liquidity Hub. Other products are Alpha, ultra-low latency exchange connectivity to Japan’s exchanges and EXSiM – Japan exchange simulators.  All of MetaBit’s products are powered by the CameronFIX Engine.

Source: Metabit, 18.05.2010

Koji Ito
+81-3-3664-4160
sales@meta-bit.com

Filed under: Asia, Australia, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 2, 2010 • 11:30 am 0

Santander starts marketing Latin American funds in Asia

Banco Santander, a Spanish bank with a large presence in Europe and Latin America, has created a new role in Hong Kong to develop its asset-management business in Asia.

With the necessary licences in place, Alexander de Laiglesia will concentrate on selling funds manufactured by Santander Asset Management in Latin America and Europe to Asian wholesale distributors and asset managers.

De Laiglesia, a managing director, has been with the firm for 20 years, starting in Tokyo as a deputy branch manager. He returned to Japan from Madrid in 2002 with a secondment to Shinsei Bank. He moved to Hong Kong last year, and has been developing the asset-management role for the past several months. De Laiglesia has also worked in Hong Kong and the Middle East in the 1980s with Standard Chartered Bank, and he speaks Japanese.

Santander pursues a universal banking model in its core markets of Spain, Portugal, the UK and the countries of Latin America, including Brazil, as well as the US. The bank has built investment teams in those countries.

The group mainly provides local products to its local investors. It cross-sells some products to provide these local customers with international exposure and may also provide third-party funds. Worldwide, Santander Asset Management manages €120 billion ($168 billion) of assets.

Asian markets are not core to this business. “We are not here to manage assets,” says de Laiglesia. “We are here to channel investments from Asia to our core markets.” That means competing in the niche of selling Latin America funds to Asian wholesalers and domestic fund houses. Santander will also seek to develop sales to institutional investors as well.

“We are the largest regional asset manager in Latin America, with big investment teams in markets such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina,” de Laiglesia says.

Santander has already notched up business in Japan as adviser to a couple of Brazil equity funds launched by Daiwa Asset Management, and in Korea, where Industrial Bank of Korea sells a Latin America equities product. Japan, in particular, has wealth, its investors are comfortable with Brazilian securities and that’s an asset class where domestic asset managers do not have a local presence, de Laiglesia says.

Santander is flexible with regard to the type of relationship it will pursue with Asian distributors; it may act as an investment adviser, a provider of white-label products or a provider of mutual funds from its Luxembourg range. The firm will also seek segregated mandates from or sales of its Luxembourg funds to Asian institutions.

In addition to applying for regulatory licences, de Laiglesia is still researching which markets to focus on and which thematic products to highlight. Japan is the priority, but the region’s other large markets — Australia, Greater China, Singapore and South Korea — are also important.

Source: AsianInvestor.net, 02.02.2010

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Banking, Brazil, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, News, Peru, Services, Singapore, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 19, 2009 • 9:56 am 0

Asia:NPLs and SMEs to provide distressed opportunities

Distressed specialists define their terminology and give their take on the market at the second AsianInvestor/FinanceAsia Distressed and Troubled Asset Investing Summit, held in Tokyo.

“What exactly is distress?” reflected AsianInvestor editor Jame DiBiasio at a panel he moderated on Monday at the Tokyo Distressed and Troubled Asset Investing Summit. “Is it a good asset from a distressed seller, or an asset itself that is in bad shape?”

The panel of distressed experts plumped for the former — they want good assets that are being flogged off by an imperilled owner.

“We prefer something that requires re-engineering, assuming that there is some enterprise value left,” said Steve Moyer, a portfolio manager at Pimco. “Banks couldn’t afford to take the losses on clearing portfolios of loans until they rebuild capital. That accomplished, they can begin the process.”

Edwin Wong, a former distressed-investing managing director at Lehman Brothers, and regarded by some in those halcyon days as the finest exponent of distressed investing practice in the hemisphere, recently started his own fund management company, SSG Capital Management.

“Unlike the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, in which all sizes of companies went bankrupt, we’re not seeing it this time around so much with the big companies,” he said. “However, private companies and smaller corporates have built up a lot of leverage, and that’s where we see the main opportunity in China, India and Indonesia.”

In answer to the old conundrum ‘what is the most famous thing that Belgium has ever produced?’, perhaps Michel Lowy will be a contender, if his new firm SC Lowy succeeds.

Lowy says distressed investors have been sharpening their pencils for the past 18 months, expecting lots of deals, only to be disappointed by the available opportunities. He hopes that will change as commercial banks finally bite the bullet and sell off non-performing portfolios.

He also perceives differences geographically in the structure of opportunities on offer. “In North Asia and other sophisticated Asian economies, there is a weighting towards public companies,” Lowy says. “Elsewhere in Asia, there are more family-owned companies. The latter are often in places where the creditor has more limited rights. It’s going to be harder to gain control of a company there by converting debt to equity.”

Source: AsianInvestor.net, 18.11.2009

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, News, Risk Management, Services, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, , , , , ,

November 17, 2009 • 11:17 am 0

Asian dark pool BlocSec removes minimum order size requirement

BlocSec, the first Asian dark pool to cater to the buy-side and the sell-side, owned by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets (‘CLSA’), will remove the current minimum US$250k or 20% of the 30-day Average Daily Volume (‘ADV’) order size requirement 1.

Removal of such minimum order size requirement will enable smaller size orders to flow into the system, increasing both liquidity and matching. BlocSec clients can continue to submit and trade large size block orders in BlocSec simply by specifying the minimum quantity fill for their executions.

Christian Chan, Director of Electronic Execution Sales, CLSA said: “We continue to improve and respond to client needs and have removed our minimum order size to source and deepen our liquidity pool, so as to provide greater flexibility across the platform and markets in which we operate.”

BlocSec has been designed to ensure complete anonymity for buyers and sellers. Order entry and matching occurs without the risk of giving away client name, side, position or price of an order which means zero information leakage.

“In addition, we have added the ability for our Client Relationship Managers to accept manual orders and route any balances to the CLSA trading desk if instructed to do so. Again, ensuring more flexibility for clients and a smooth and seamless trade flow process,” Chan added.

Since its launch in May 2008, BlocSec has become the preeminent Asian liquidity aggregator and electronic crossing network for Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australian equities with an average daily liquidity flow over US$77m and an average cross size of US$1.04m.

BlocSec provides traders the ability to place orders with complete anonymity and zero information leakage into the market. BlocSec continues to gather momentum and build liquidity in over 800 distinct names with 50% of all clients entering orders securing a match.

As a CLSA group company, BlocSec has a substantial community of institutional investors with the ability to provide a deep pool of liquidity. Liquidity is also maximized as BlocSec is open to both buy and sell side clients.

Source: FINEXTRA 17.11.2009

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Exchanges, Hong Kong, Japan, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 14, 2009 • 11:19 am 0

Asia’s affluent lose one-fifth of wealth in 2008 – CapGemini-Merryll Lynch Asia Wealth Report 2009

Hong Kong’s high-net-worth crowd were the hardest hit by the financial crisis, according to the annual wealth report from Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.

It was perhaps inevitable that after experiencing such rapid wealth growth in the past few years, Asia’s high-net-worth individuals suffered particularly keenly from the recent crisis. But there is still huge market potential in the region for those wealth advisory firms able to tap it.  Download: Asia-Pacific_Wealth_Report_2009_CapG_ML

The wealth of the region’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) — those with $1 million or more in investable assets — fell by 22.3% to $7.4 trillion last year, below the level in 2006. That compares to a fall of 19.5% for global HNWI wealth, according to the 2009 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report, released yesterday by consulting firm Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.

Hong Kong HNWIs saw by far the biggest drop, losing 65.4% of their wealth, followed by those in Australia (29.7%), Singapore (29.4%) and India (29.0%). South Koreans got off lightest with a 13.4% decline in asset value, while Japan saw a fall of 16.7%.

In terms of market capitalisation, the Asia-Pacific region as a whole saw an average fall of 48.6% last year, with China (60.3%) and India (64.1%) suffering the biggest declines of the countries surveyed*.

With regard to asset allocation, the report noted three key trends. First, Asian HNWIs undertook a ‘flight to safety’ to cash-like assets with their allocation to cash-based investments rising to 29% in 2008 from 25% the year before. This reflected an increase in the global allocation to cash in 2008 to 21% from 17% in 2007. Taiwan had the highest allocation to cash/deposits at 41% of its total portfolio, while India had by far the least with 13%.

Another trend was an opportunistic shift back to real estate investment with an allocation of 22% in 2008, up from 20% the year before. Regionally, Australia had the highest allocation to real estate (41%), closely followed by South Korea (38%), while Taiwan had the least (15%).

As for other asset classes, India had the largest allocation to equities (32%), despite the heavy fall in the country’s stock market last year, while South Korea had the smallest (13%). And, perhaps surprisingly, Indonesia had the largest allocation to alternative investments (9%), covering structured products, hedge funds, derivatives, foreign currency, commodities, private equity and venture capital.

The third broad trend noted by the report was a retreat to home-region and domestic investments with HNWIs increasing their domestic investments to 67% in 2008 from 53% the year before. China was the top Asian market for investment by HNWIs in Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, while their peers in Japan preferred to invest domestically.

Allocations to mature markets are likely to increase through 2010 as Asia-Pacific HNWIs seek more stable returns. Allocations to North America, for example, are predicted to rise from 17% last year to 20% in 2010.

In terms of diversity of geographic distribution of investments, Japanese HNWIs were the most diversified beyond Asia in 2008 with 45% of their allocation outside the Asia-Pacific region. The least diversified were the Chinese with a 17% allocation outside Asia-Pacific, and India with a mere 14% invested outside the region.

On a wider level, the crisis resulted in many Asian clients shifting their assets towards regional and local firms, changing the competitive landscape. Such moves exposed “weaknesses in the capabilities of the region’s wealth management firms and especially revealed the disparate strengths and weaknesses of international firms versus regional and local competitors”, says the report.

In terms of the challenges faced by wealth management firms in Asia, they feel maintaining client trust/client retention is by far the biggest concern, according to a Capgemini survey carried out during July and August. Eighty-five percent of wealth management advisers cited this as the biggest challenge they face as a result of the crisis, and 45% cited as the next major issue the need to have the right skill set and talent to cater to HNWI clients.

A closer look at the issue of client attrition shows that 42% of wealth advisers lost clients last year; 63% of those advisers employed an individual-adviser model, while 37% used a team-based model. Meanwhile, younger advisers tended to lose more clients than older ones with 62% of those who lost clients being 40 or under. “Advisers were not mature enough to handle the intense market conditions,” says the report.

Experience is clearly key, and advisers in the Asia-Pacific region were less well able to handle the economic turmoil. The average amount of experience for the region was 9.7 years, versus the global average of 13.3 years. Wealth management firms need to remedy this situation if they are to make the most of the untapped market potential in China, India and elsewhere in the region.

* The report focuses on 11 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Together, these account for 95.3% of Asia-Pacific gross domestic product.

Source: Asian Investor, 14.10.2009

Asian Investor

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October 8, 2009 • 10:38 am 1

ASX to Introduce Renewable Energy Futures Next Month

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Australian Securities Exchange said trading in renewable-energy futures and options will start next month after lawmakers passed a bill requiring the nation to derive 20 percent of its power from clean fuels.

The exchange, owned by ASX Ltd., said it will list futures and options contracts for renewable energy certificates on Nov. 24. The ASX said trading of certified emission reduction contracts would be introduced in the first quarter of next year.

“This is an extension of the products we’re already providing,” Anthony Collins, the exchange’s general manager of energy and environmental markets, said by phone today. “It will help firms manage risk” posed by fluctuating prices and to “invest with certainty.”

Australia, the world’s biggest coal exporter, must source 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2020 under the new law. Broader emission-reduction legislation proposed in Australia may be resubmitted in November after being defeated by upper-house lawmakers. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants carbon trading to start in 2011.

The ASX also said it plans to list futures and options on carbon emission permits if the government’s pollution reduction plan is passed. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specific amount of a commodity or security at a specific price and time. Options grant the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell at a set price.

The introduction of futures and options contracts on renewable energy certificates supports the Australian government’s new target, the Australian Securities Exchange said. Each REC is equal to one megawatt-hour of renewable energy generation.

“All of these markets are small to start with,” Collins said. “They will take several years to mature.”

Source: Bloomberg,07.10.2009

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October 8, 2009 • 10:29 am 0

Dark Pools in Danger ?

Increasing regulatory supervision and calls for transparency on one side and  the threaten proliferation of “unregulated and opaque”  Dark Pool and crossing networks by large institutions, have increased the calls by exchanges and exchange federations to review regulation and even ban them.

While the global debate is in full swing, China has clearly distance it self from any alternative trading venues in the country and prohibited the access to any “non-transparent” trading venues like dark pools for it’s QDII (Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors).

Below Article highlight the current trends and voices

SEC to extend probe into dark pools 09.10.2009

The Securities and Exchange Commission is to extend its regulatory probing of dark pools to include issues surrounding high frequency trading, direct market access and co-location.

What’s the Matter with Dark Pools, 02.10.2009

Dark pools are on the regulatory front burner. They’re seen as competing with the displayed markets, even as they’ve captured a segment of trading from the desks of broker-dealers’ upstairs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is now bearing down on issues related to trading in dark pools and how much flow can execute in individual pools without triggering obligations to the rest of the marketplace. To provide some perspective on this broader discussion….

LSE and Turquoise an Item: Official, 01.10.2009

When we suggested here a few weeks back that the London Stock Exchange take a look at on-the-block Turquoise as a possible solution to its ‘TradElect problem’ it was slightly tongue in cheek. After all, we knew the LSE was in talks with MillenniumIT and it looked on paper as if an approach to Turquoise would amount to the exchange losing face to an upstart rival.

Dark Pools 2009: Not So Dark Anymore AITE Group, 30.09.2009

Only two things about dark pools are clear at this time: their overall market share continues to grow, and regulatory intervention appears inevitable.

London Stock Exchange to leave FESE  30.09.2009

But the move is a sign that a recent criticism by some of the world’s largest exchanges of the large banks’ off-exchange activities is not shared by some exchanges, which see their interests increasingly aligned with those same banks.

n a letter to Eddy Wymeersch, chairman of the Committee of European Securities Regulators, Ms Hardt said FESE believed the banks’ dark pools were “unregulated venues” operating with “full opacity”. The European equities market was “becoming a dealer market”.

Chi-X Global alleges ‘fear card’ move by ASX 30.09.2009

The head of Chi-X Global, the equities trading platform, on Wednesday accused the Australian Securities Ex­change of playing the “fear card” after the exchange’s chairman spoke of the dangers of allowing multiple share trading venues.

New ideas fail to lift mood over dark pools 24.09.2009

Yet even as dark pools continue to generate eye-catching ideas, controversy is raging over their very existence. In Europe, the issue is pitting exchanges against big banks in a new battle over control of billions of dollars in share trading orders.

Exchanges call on G20 to tackle dark pools 23.09.2009

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has urged G20 leaders to press for market reform to tackle the uneven playing field and eroded price discovery it claims has been caused by the emergence of alternative trading platforms such as dark pools.

In a letter sent to Mario Draghi, head of the financial stability board at the Bank for International Settlements ahead of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, the WFE calls for more uniform rules between exchange-traded and “less-regulated” markets.

The WFE warns: “The heightened opacity of certain market operations in many countries inhibits price discovery and may lead to negative outcomes, such as increased volatility.”

“Taken together, the combination of the absence of a level playing field between execution venues and decreased market transparency is an unsettling development,” says the letter, signed by William Brodsky, chairman of the WFE.

The exchanges call on G20 leaders to agree on ways to avoid “regulatory arbitrage” to ensure market participants do not just go to countries with weak rules.

Source: Finetik, 01.10.2009

Filed under: Australia, Exchanges, FiNETIK Articles, Japan, News, Risk Management, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 30, 2009 • 2:52 am 0

Chi-X Global alleges ‘fear card’ move of ASX (Dark Pool)

The head of Chi-X Global, the equities trading platform, on Wednesday accused the Australian Securities Ex­change of playing the “fear card” after the exchange’s chairman spoke of the dangers of allowing multiple share trading venues.

The development is a sign of frustration over the absence of government approval of licences that would allow rivals to challenge the country’s incumbent exchange.

At the same time, regulatory scrutiny in the US and Europe of certain off-exchange venues has emboldened exchanges such as the ASX to become more vocal in criticising alter­native trading platforms.

Tony Mackay, Chi-X Global chairman, hit out at the “extraordinary” comments made by ASX chairman David Gonski, who told shareholders at an annual meeting that Canberra should carefully consider whether to allow new entrants into the country’s markets. He claimed that it was unclear how multiple market operators benefited investors. He said Mr Gonski was playing the “fear card” that competition was bad for Australia.

Chi-X Global, controlled by Nomura of Japan, has been in talks with Canberra for more than a year about securing a market licence to offer equities trading. Its sister company, Chi-X Eur­ope, already operates a pan-European equities platform.

Mr Mackay added: “The … ASX operates a regulated monopoly. It has an average operating margin of about 80 per cent when the average for the companies quoted on its exchange is about 25 per cent.”

He said the average cost of executing a trade in Australia was close to five times higher than in Europe and North America.

“They are fighting to keep their monopoly,” he said, adding that the ASX should discuss with government, regulators and new market entrants Australia’s role as a leading securities market in the region.

Source: FT, 30.09.2009

FT.com

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